The Yankees have moved left-hander James Paxton to the 45-day injured list and selected catcher Wynston Sawyer, per a team announcement. Sawyer will join the Yankees’ alternate site.
This ends the regular season for Paxton, who has been on the 10-day injured list with a flexor strain since Aug. 20. While the Yankees appear likely to make the playoffs, Paxton won’t be available then from the outset.
Paxton turned in another effective (albeit injury-shortened) campaign in 2019, the former Mariner’s first in New York, and the Yankees were counting on more solid production from him this season. Instead, the 31-year-old totaled 20 1/3 innings of 6.64 ERA ball and saw his average fastball velocity drop from around 95 mph to 92.1. Even if the 31-year-old Paxton pitches again during the fall, he figures to head into free agency in an unfavorable position in a couple months.
Sawyer, previously with the Orioles, Dodgers and Twins organizations, signed a minor league contract with the Yankees in February. He topped out in Triple-A ball from 2018-19, during which he amassed 254 plate appearances and batted .277/.370/.405.
Doubt he’s back next year back with sevy back and Garcia and Clark likely in rotation. But ya never know
More likely to keep tanaka then Paxton. Sevy won’t be back until July or August though
Tanaka is going to be tough call given his age, elbow concerns and likely going to command a long term deal Yankees will be reluctant to pay. Anything over 2/40 or 3/60 is over paying and risky.
Thing with Schmidt is he’s only had 91 IP in a year in the minors. he’s more likely a mid season call up especially with Garcia making strides.
If the Yankees won’t, why would anyone else offer Tanaka a long term deal given his given his age and elbow concerns? Is the qualifying offer system still in place for 2021? The Yankees will surely make a QO if they can’t sign him.
Why are we harping on the elbow. He’s been pitching with it since 2014 and never misses time.
Dont need tanaka if u sign bauer
Severino is projected to return May/June of 2021 which puts his recovery at 15 months. The bet here is Schmidt or a free agent pitcher will be signed or a trade to cover his spot until he returns.
Command is the last thing to return after Tommy John surgery. If there are no setbacks Severino will return in 2021. He should be able to give the Yankees some innings but he won’t be back to the Severino of old until 2022 at the earliest.
Should be back before that. Had TJS in late February. A 14 month recovery period has him back on the mound in May. Regardless, he won’t be ready for Opening Day, so they’ll need someone for the first six weeks.
I doubt they throw Schmidt right into the rotation next year. it’s more likely they re-sign Tanaka
Definitely looking like Pax isn’t coming back next season. Unless he wants to take a 1 year contract to show he’s healthy. With Deivi, Schmidty, Monty, German and Sevvy coming back later from TJ, there is no real big need for the Big Maple to be back, especially if the Yankees resign Tanaka as expected. My guess Masahiro will get 4 years at $20 million annually.
Paxton will have no choice but a one year deal. Back surgery followed by reduced velocity and then the forearm strain, the last two potential red flags for TJS. No team is giving a multi-year deal until they see him back healthy and pitching effectively. Frankly, it’s to his advantage to take a one year deal and then hit the market post 2021. If I’m in his shoes, I go to a team where he’s guaranteed to start, a good team in a nice big ballpark. The Twins would be one option on a reduced contract as he rebuilds his value.
Who really is going to offer him more than one year with a low-base and high incentives and a mutual option for ’22? He’s got one year left to score a big contract.
We keep sending you guys good pitchers and you break them. Need to go easier on them.
I watched Paxton do a minor league rehab start with our short season A ball team. We sat right behind the dugout. I was surprised to see he didn’t look all that athletic. Watch him walk if you get the chance. Not banging on the guy he is great when healthy which is not enough.
Looking forward to next season. Gonna let the young dogs hunt. Hope Rodriguez does good enough in spring training to make it up. That OF is going to be fun to watch. Three CFers out there and the guy who should be ROY one of them.
Paxton in the end didn’t help the Yankees get that elusive World Series championship they’ve avoided for 10 years. Mariners are very thankful for Justus Sheffield.
why select a guy and immediately option him?
He had previously been on a minor league contract, so they signed him to a major league deal, putting him on the 40-man, then sent him down.
He asked why they did that
To get him on the 40 man and a major league deal…he just said why they did it
And just like that The Big Maple is done pitching in pinstripes
Don’t forget German who was a 20 game winner 2 years ago! 2021 rotation projected to be Cole, Garcia, German, Montgomery & Severino / Schmidt.
German committed an unforgettable offense. He will NEVER pitch for the Yankees again
Yeah like Chapman.
@ctyank7- was he actually charged? German will be pitching for the Yankees next season. Especially with Sevvy not being in the rotation till mid June or late June.
CTYank. Disagree. He’s cheap, he was good, he’s young, and the Yankees will need him. MLB teams do not have morality clauses for the type of offense he committed. The Yankees went out and actively recruited and traded for Chapman while he was still under investigation.
I have no idea who he is, but Wynston Sawyer sounds like the main character of a book from the 1800’s.
Yeah.
Thought I was in a D.H. Lawrence novel.
The one thing I do like is playing a five game series in 5 days and that is something no one touched on.
With Covid wrecking club payrolls and the Yanks furloughing staff,I see the 2021 Yankee rotation options as-
Cole
German
Tanaka
Garcia
Montgomery
Schmidt
King
Visciano
Severino June 1st
Cole, Tanaka, Garcia, German, Schmidt/Montgomery, with Severino joining some point mid-May forward, could be quite good.
I do think Tanaka will be back. Both sides seem like the current arrangement, and Tanaka is more a pitcher than a thrower. He should age well.
Big maple, your 2020 winner of the Sonny Gray Award.
there seems to be one every year. sometimes they even circle back, vazquez…
Didn’t you mean the Rich Hill award? =D
The difference between Vasquez and the Big Maple is that Paxton is hurt. Guys like Vasquez, Contreras, Weaver, Lynn, and Sonny Gray just can’t win here in NY but can win in other places.
Not sure that’s true about Lynn. Agree on the others.
lance lynn was great as a yankee, too bad trashman let him go
Boras will have a hard time lying up Paxton for any big contract. Always injured and barely pitched his last year with another season ender.
Liked watching him immensely with Seattle when he was healthy. He would sit upper 90’s and touch 99mph it seemed often, just seemed he was ALWAYS hurt and it was true. Anybody that guarantees him big dollars is throwing it away, would be curious to see how boras lies it up attempting to whitewash all those warts.
He’s heading for a one year show me deal. Could work out well for him if he can stay healthy. That’s his biggest drawback.
this was somewhat predictable. when you go for cost controllable and potential that has not been reached in part due to health concerns over actual results b/c its costs more…….. this tends to happen. Unless you buy into cash’s propaganda that Yankee pitching and medical staff is so superior to others like the Mariners in this case.
When you invest in high end SP you tend to go to WS…which is why we thankfully have Cole now
Cash has to just bite the bullet here and pass on bringing him back unless its a low cost flyer deal.
Cash had a nose for those high priced chins dolls. I know he came up through the system but Judge Stanton Paxton just to name three. I know it happens to every team but is going to remind Yankee fans they have more money on the IL than some teams whole salary.
my point is that other than cole cash has shunned paying for pitchers and thus WS winners who make a difference like, verlander, sale, price, scherzer, and corbin have gone elswhere b/c Cashman the self proclaimed genius went for guys like vazquez, sonny grey, evoldi, pax, etc…
why? cheap and controllable with unrealized potential. well guess what none of those guys made it or came close to their potential.
Bargains are hard to find and you get what you pay for…
yes- painfully aware that the yanks are 50 mil this year on gardner, happ and elsbury
he’s the most overrated GM out there
Unless Paxton takes a 1 year team friendly “Pillow Contract” he is done in The Bronx. If Boras can get him a good contract he is a magician.
so long as its not the yanks….
I don’t wan’t anyone thinking returning to the Bronx was ever an option for him…not even as an opponent. Although facing against him would be fun for the Yankees.
The Yankees should just sign Bauer. Cole, Bauer, Tanaka, Montgomery, Garcia and Sevy mid season looking great
Bauer and Cole don’t get along
Pure narrative.
Team chemistry = winning.
@bronxbombers- It doesn’t matter if the Yankees sign Bauer as a free agent, they’ll really have no choice to get a long. To have Cole as the ace & Bauer as a #2 in the rotation would definitely have the makings of something special. That’s the way Gerrit & Trevor got to look at it.
Agreed. Reggie and Thurman did not get along and the team thrived.
Bummer about Pax.
Losing he & Sevi really stings in light of how the 2020 playoffs are set up.
I think it would be best for bother the Yankees and Paxton to part ways. I could see Paxton having a resurgence on another squad like Sonny Gray did on the Reds
It truly doesn’t make any sense to call up another catcher. Especially when Andujar was just starting to hit. The Sanchise, Higgy, Kratz and now Sawyer? How many catchers do the Yankees really need? Smh
It is depth at the alternate sight not on main roster.
They don’t want to be caught short heading into the postseason. Injuries to catchers often happen quickly. Highly, for one, is very injury prone. They also might be considering DFA’ing Kratz, who could be picked up by a team like the Phillies if they’re concerned Realmuto might be out a while. If that happens, the Yankees already have an alternative in house.
“Higgy.”
What did the Yankees expect from Paxton? The guy has never pitched more than 160 innings in a season before.
Guys, please chime in here…
Paxton ($12.5M)….Gardner ($10.0M)……Happ ($17.0M)…..say goodbye to. Talking $40.0M .
1. I always seem to hear about Tanaka’s shaky elbow while all he has done from 2016 to 2019 is miss ONLY 5-6 starts to an ERA of 3.90 which is not great but in the AL East and being also enjoying a Yankee offense , not too bad. And by the way his ERA this year is at 3.16!! Oh did I mention his post season ERA sits at 2.14!!! I would say he’s worthy of a 3-60 deal..
2. Then go out and sign Bauer….3-72-ish….And not interested in hearing that Cole and Bauer do not get along…..GROW up guys..this is not High School anymore!!
3. Trade Sanchez. Even though he is just simply overrated, I do believe he would be in demand….and get prospects.
4. If we can sign Bauer AND trade Sanchez…. go out and sign Realmuto !! The trading strength of this team I believe is not the hitting ..but rather the young pitching….. Not in particular order…. Garcia, Schmidt, Cessa, Loaisiga, Gil, Yajure….. Would any oft these guys be helpful in a package to get Realmuto? like adding Andujar?? The shame of it is that he was hitting .355 in September before getting sent down, but only increased his trade value again.
If we let Paxton and Happ walk…the staff right now for 2021 looks like: Cole, Severino (sometime in June), Tanaka, Montgomery, and probably Garcia. How would Bauer look on that staff ???……with either Monty or Garcia going to the bullpen ???? I am thinking this now becomes a World Series team!!
Looking ahead to after the 2021 season….Ellsbury’s comes off the books at $22.0m, I believe ? ..Ottavino is a f/a at $9.0M….
This will help in the upcoming arbitration cases ahead…..
my bad….I did neglect to add German to this talented mix !!!
You do not have to deal any of those young guys to sign Realmuto.
Trade Sanchez, one of your young SS and an arm like Gil or Medina to Texas for Lynn. Yes, Lynn wasn’t good the first time around. Cole, Bauer, Lynn at the top of the rotation is darn good.
we have so many young guys that could easily surpass a guy like Lynn….Sanchez, one of the SS, AND a Gil is wayyyyyy too much for Lynn…..plus his ERA in NY was close to 5.00. Now if we talk about a Brad Keller on KC…..I would jump all over that….but he could be had as a F/a in ’21. talk about adding YOUNG depth and talent !! Given up zero HR’s in 44 IP so far this year. Plus he’s only 25, not 33
If you have many young guys ready to surpass Lynn then it defeats everything you wrote since you do not need pitching – if what you said is true.
Sanchez is playing like he has zero value. You will need to add young players to the deal to entice a team to take him on as a project. Texas would be one place that could work. By saying that package is too much for Lynn means you have overvalued the prospects and Sanchez. If you feel strongly about your young pitching you can stand pat, sign Bauer and be A-ok.
I do not disagree with you on just signing Bauer……..but you know the old saying..you cannot have enough pitching. …AND even though the perceived value of these propsects might look strong..right now they are still ONLY prospects…..
absolute no to lynn. as in no f****** way should he be allowed to enter the cathedral in pinstripes. in fact I’d love to see him in houston, boston or tamp uni.
He is exactly the type of guy cash would get who will suck it up and implode when needed, right happ? evoldi? grey? and so on and so forth
Yanks only need a legit 2 behind cole. tanaka is a legit 3 and all the other names can battle and rotate through 4 and 5.
sanchez can stay or go- it matters not. The yanks offense is only an issue in that its built for homers and not contact like the DJs of the game…. in the playoffs good pitching ALWAYS beats good hitting which is why Houston, Houston again, Boston, and Houston for a 3rd time have beaten us and why we always pummel the twins….
baseball really hasn’t changed. SP plus contact bats mixed with some power backed by the pen wins in October. sadly Cashman still doesn’t realize that
Anyone heard anything on Chapman’s suspension? Feels like it’s taking an unusually long time to get resolved. I guess CBS Sports was reporting that the hearing might happen on Monday of the past week. No word on decision or even if it did occur.
Paxton isn’t coming back. Even if he’s willing to take a paycut it’s just not worth it. There will be quite a few pitchers available that would be comparable to what Paxton can give you (when you factor in durability and declining velocity).. Tanaka would make a whole lot more sense to bring back. He’s shown he can handle crunch time in NY and is more reliable.
DJ obviously is someone they need to resign and is the one guy on this team that Steinbrenner doesn’t need to get tight fisted about.